Some of what you are asking depends on the wind. If the wind is right give it a try. The well used trails are most often used by does. It doesn't mean you won't see a buck on them, but they will use other access or less used trails more often. It might be worth putting a trail camera or 2 up before the season and see what is using the trails you are thinking of.

Thank you for the reply! I just retrieved 4 cams that I hung in that area (which for reference is about 40 acres ringed by road on 3 sides with housing on the 4th, with zero hunting pressure according to the landowner).

I got back one coyote, one pretty small black bear, a variety of blacktail but no visible bucks. Everything was fairly small, except one doe.

I have two shooting lanes on that property that I've identified and they're the only "clear" parts of that land. It is a very old prospecting road straight through the forest which is now thickly overgrown. I am going to rehang in those two locations on trees that could work as treestands and let all 4 cameras soak for a month and see if I can get anything bigger.

I found a large pile of cougar scat out there on my first scout, but no cats on camera. Darn.

Have you seen any rubs or found any antlers? Spend some time looking for signs that a buck or bucks live in the area. Look on the secondary trails too Maybe hang a camera on a secondary trail that has a few rubs on it. Hope that helps. Also, I wouldn't be afraid to go in every couple weeks to change camera spots. I dont worry about animals spooking unless I'm going in every day. If a deer isn't on your camera in a couple weeks, try another spot. Have fun and good luck

My first scout in there I found a shed that looked to be from over a year ago, not this past season but the one prior (just going based on color, wear, etc). I have seen zero evidence of rubs. Tons and tons of beds, and lots of active trails, but no rubs or scrapes.

Hoping that changes! I do have other spots but this is the one I've really been investing my time into.

You probably won't see scrapes. That's more a whitetail thing. Blacktail antlers arent always easy to find, but if they arent being hunted, that buck could very well still be around. Good luck and have fun.

You're getting a lot of good information and from the sounds of it, you're off and running. A couple things you might want to consider and take action as you deem necessary:

- finding that shed tells you there is at least one buck wintering there. That's good news. There may be several or even many others. It's not the end of the world if they don't live on site. If there are does there, you're golden.

- I don't like long trail cam soaks until I'm confident in my spot. Nothing worse than leaving the cam in the woods for a month and getting little information from it. I'd recommend maybe two weeks in each spot till you locate either bucks, or quite a few doe using an area. Finding buck trails will give you better knowledge of where you want to hunt in the early season and improve your understanding of how they move through the forest. Knowing where the does are is really important when the bucks start searching/chasing etc. The does typically breed very close to the areas they live all year long, so you can just head to that spot and expect that if the timing is right, a buck will be coming along sooner or later. Sit on the does and wait.

- You might want to consider walking the perimeter road looking for trails that lead in and out of the parcel you're hunting. It will give you a better understanding of how the deer are moving around. Also, odds are good that many deer use the residential area on the fourth side, at least at night. You might want to work that edge looking for fresh sign as well. Suburban deer seem to spend more time browsing in yards than in woods. They may stage up along that side every evening waiting for the sun to set before they go out for dinner.

Keep looking for rubs. They should be there. Smaller Alder, conifer, and maple all get hit, typically between knee and waist level. If a buck liked that spot for his territory in the past, he or some other buck will likely use it again in the future.

Logged

“When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.” - Will Rogers

I can tell you now if your in a spot with lots of beds, turds and trails then you already have a great spot, it's a wind and scent game and finding a good spot at a trail intersection ,placing yourself according to the wind and just hunker down and wait, what you don't want to do is go back in there scouting, stay outside that bedding area and scout the perimeter , bucks will be visable as their new growth gets tender so they get out in the open more , you gotta find a way into that bedding area where the wind is in your favor and you can slip in and out undetected!! I would ONLY hunt it the last couple days of October and then extended buck, and the pray for absolute horrid weather, the nastier the better, and if it's windy and rainy that s even better, don't get discouraged if you go a couple days without seeing a deer, cause that's just black tail huntn, good luck kid, your definetly on the right track

When I am putting out cams and reviewing info. If I see a buck or two it is a bonus. I loom for areas crawling with Doe's and then do what ever I can to keep them in the area. If have a ladies spot, the Bucks will come whrn the time is right.Also remember, if your deer numbers plummet in Sept-early October, and your are hunting suburban deer. They will leave there home turf for local apple trees, when the large quantities of app.es are gone they come home.